For the second time in two years, the Seaquam Seahawks are provincial basketball champions.
In a game featuring seven ties and 15 lead changes, the Seahawks hung on to edge the Brookswood Bobcats 68-67 in the BC School Sports Girls 4A Basketball Provincial Tournament, held Feb. 26 to March 1 at the Langley Events Centre.
Both teams entered the tournament as defending champions, with Brookswood having won the 3A tournament in 2024 before moving up a tier, and Seaquam coming off a historic 4A win that marked not only the school’s first senior provincial basketball title, but the first senior girls' championship in North Delta's history.
Two years prior, the same squad secured the school’s first championship title in any sport when they won the 2022 Junior Girls Basketball Provincial Invitational.
Speaking with media after the game, coach Lucky Toor said the back-to-back senior titles “mean absolutely everything,” not just for the school, but the whole Delta community.
"When I started [coaching] the program [at Seaquam] eight, nine years ago, this was the vision, that we can be a provincial powerhouse,” Toor said.
“But it's beyond just our school. We have hundreds of fans here from the Delta community, and so for us, it's about doing this for Delta. Delta never had any girls banners before last year; now we've got two."
With seven players returning from last season, the Seahawks entered the tournament as the number two seed behind North Vancouver’s Argyle Pipers and began their run with a 80-49 win over Port Moody’s Heritage Woods Kodiaks on Feb. 26.
The team followed that with a 77-38 win over Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission Huskies on Feb. 27 before punching their ticket to the finals on Feb. 28 with a 75-61 victory over Port Coquitlam’s Riverside Rapids, the tournament’s number three seed and the 2023 4A champs unseated by Seaquam in last year’s championship game.
In the final played at the centre’s Arena Bowl Court (home of the Canadian Elite Basketball League's Vancouver Bandits, as well as the WHL’s Vancouver Giants), Brookswood outscored Seaquam by four in the first quarter, with Jordyn Nohr putting up 10 of the Langley Township team’s 18 points.
Seaquam returned the favour in the second, adding 16 to their tally to make it a one-point game (30-31) at the half.
After trailing by three at the end of the third, the Seahawks got their biggest lead of the night late in the fourth quarter as they pulled ahead by six.
The championship came down to the wire as the Bobcats cut their deficit down to one, before ultimately falling short at the buzzer.
Asked what was going through his head in last minutes of the game, Toor replied, "that we gave ourselves a chance, that we fought and gave ourselves a chance.
“I had memories of last year going through my head and these moments down the stretch, and just trusting that these kids were going to come up with that one big play that we needed. And they did that, they got that one stop."
Toor also highlighted the team’s flurry of three-pointers, especially when they needed them most, as one of the keys to their success. Eleven of Seaquam’s 26 baskets were for three — five of those were in the fourth quarter, four of which were sunk by Toor’s daughter, Syra.
"We live and die by that shot sometimes, I'm not going to lie,” he said. “But all I keep telling those girls is believe, believe, believe that we're going to shoot our way out of this. Let's not change who we are; that's who we are. If we miss some, let's just keep letting 'em fly."
Seaquam’s Camryn Tait scored a team-high 21 points to go along with her 11 rebounds, and was named both Championship Player of the Game and Most Valuable Player.
Syra Toor added 20 points for the Seahawks, while Mackenzie Henderson (13) and Callie Brost (12) also reached double figures.
Henderson was given the nod as the tournament’s Inspiring Bandit Award, and she and Toor were both named first-team all-stars, while Brost was named a second-team all-star.
"Words can't express how special this group is and what they mean to me,” coach Toor said after the championship game.
“I was going through a lot of emotions this week with my daughter not being able to play, and she's been our starting point guard all season,” he said, referring to Priya Toor, who tore her ACL playing against the South Delta Sun Devils in the South Fraser zone championships semifinals on Feb. 12.
“So I was trying to keep my emotions in check for this group, and that honestly became our rallying cry. They all wanted to do it for her."
Toor also heaped praise on Brookswood’s Jordyn Nohr, who led the Bobcats with 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, earning her a first-team all-star nod.
"Hats off to Brookswood, I've got the utmost respect for that team, for that coaching staff, for Jordyn Nohr. I told her that, that she didn't let me sleep all night last night. I was up trying to game plan simply because of her and how dominant she is," he said.
Brookswood’s Ashley Vande Ven, who had 21 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots, was honoured with the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award. She and teammate Hazel Phillips were both named second-team all-stars.
